There is great concern among hospital personnel about the serious risks associated with the use of needles in the healthcare environment. Particularly, healthcare workers remain fearful of becoming infected with viruses such as the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or hepatitis B as a consequence of having been exposed, directly or indirectly, to a patient's blood sample. These infectious agents are transmitted to the healthcare worker when, in the performance of his duty to collect blood from a patient, a needle stick is made or blood clotting develops within the tip of a previously inserted catheter. Whether it is when a hospital employee is punctured with the patient's needle or when the employee is exposed to the patient's blood while removing a clot from or replacing the catheter, the effect of this occupational hazard appears to be the same: potential medical and psychological consequences for both the healthcare worker and his family.
Healthcare workers have identified four specific circumstances under which the risk of contracting a virus from a patient's infected blood is extremely high: (1) while disassembling a device that has an exposed or contaminated needle; (2) while carrying exposed needles to a disposal box along with other items; (3) while storing a needle that is to be used two or more different times to collect blood from a patient; (4) while passing by another healthcare worker who is holding an exposed needle; or (5) leaving a contaminated needle in the patient's bed. In view of these circumstances, it appears that a solution to the problem is the development of a device that provides for the needle to remain unexposed when it is not being used to withdraw blood. In fact, the National Academy of Sciences Cmmmittee on Trauma Research has concluded that improvements in product design are among the most successful approaches to the prevention of injury in this area. Jagger, et al. "Rates of Needle-Stick Injury Caused By Various Devices In a University Hospital," The New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 4, 1988, pp. 284-87.
Accordingly, the present invention is a new and effective means for preventing needle stick injuries, blood clotting, and catheter contamination. No other arrangement known heretofore is as practical or efficient in preventing the spread of viruses from patients to healthcare workers.